Kent State University
4-1
Yale University
4-1
Yale beats Flashes to claim Men Against Breast Cancer Classic Title
11/23/2014 5:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio – Kent State dropped its first game of the 2014-15 season, falling 66-59 to Yale despite 22 points from Jimmy Hall in Sunday's finale of the Men Against Breast Cancer Classic at the M.A.C. Center.
After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half and going into the break down 32-24, Yale battled back behind Jack Montague, Justin Sears and Matt Townsend.
Townsend hit several key jumpers for the Bulldogs as Kent State and Yale traded baskets down the stretch. Montague scored 8 of his team-high 13 points in the opening half.
Yale shot 66.7 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes after struggling to 35 percent in the first half. Kent State shot 56 percent in the first half and 36 percent in the second.
Sears was named MVP of the tournament. He finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs.
"Tough game for us," said Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff. "They made a couple more plays down the stretch. Give them credit. They are a veteran team. We had a number of opportunities ... and the whole second half, we didn't guard the way we need to guard. We need to learn from this and play better next week."
The loss dropped the Flashes to 4-1 on the season. Kent State will return to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. when Loyola Chicago visits the M.A.C. Center.
Hall scored in double figures for the fifth time in five games, going 10-of-16 from the field, and pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
Senior guards Derek Jackson and Kris Brewer both scored nine points for the Flashes and made big shots down the stretch that allowed the Flashes to lead going into the final minute of play. Jackson's three-point shot brought the Flashes within a point at 50-49, and Brewer made a pair of free throws to give Kent State the lead back, 54-53, a few possessions later. The teams then traded three-pointers as Jackson answered a three-pointer by Montague with one of his own off a nice crosscourt pass out of the post by Hall. Townsend then came right back with a jumper near the foul line for Yale.
Jackson missed a short pull-up from the wing on the next Kent State possession, but great instincts and hustle allowed him to secure the rebound in traffic and call timeout to maintain possession. Brewer was then fouled on a strong take to the basket and connected on both free throws to give Kent State a 59-58 lead. Another basket by Townsend put Yale ahead for good, as the Flashes missed their final four shots and the Bulldogs made six straight from the charity striped the rest of the way.
After shooting better than 50 percent from three-point range in the first two games of the tournament, the Flashes hit just 4-of-12 from the arc on Sunday, including 2-of-8 in the second half.
Yale won the rebounding battle 30-22 and outscored the Kent State bench, 20-15.
Hall and Jackson earned all-tournament team honors for the Flashes. MVP Sears was joined by Montague for Yale. Illinois-Chicago's Jake Wiegand and Southern Illinois' Anthony Beane rounded out the all-tournament team.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
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